Formal and Informal Assessment of Student Learning
Name:
Talia Rainone
I. Assignment Description/Requirements
See Project Page for assignment details.
II. Preparation / Development
1. Reflect on your current assessment practices. How have you been determining what students understand and what they are able to do?
What "drives" my teaching is the students' response to questions. Upon revisiting any content a brief review is needed. I have been determining what students understand from probing with many questions. For me, assessment drives my teaching. I think that through some activities, worksheets, reading, discussion, and investigations, I can really get a feel for what they have gained from the lesson and what still needs work. I have used many different worksheets that visit the content in various ways, some deal with vocabulary, diagram and label, explain, completion, and matching. The modified true and false questions have helped me to understand how some students are thinking. In this assessment, the questions' key concept is underlined, so when students read the question not only do they have to write true or false, but if it is a false statement they have to change the underlined word and make it a true statement. If I show videos I always have a worksheet that goes with it to make sure the students are grasping the main concepts. Any activities or investigations have students predict, observe, draw, conclude, cite evidence, and label different parts. This encourages higher level thinking and meet DOK levels 1-3. During formal assessments I have required students to apply concepts that were learned and relate it to a "bigger" situation (DOK 4).
2. Describe the concept(s) that you are trying to assess in these assignments. Include a link to the appropriate GSE(s) on RIScienceTeachers. Be sure to include in your description your definition, examples of what it is, why students have difficulty with this concept, and why it is important that you teach this topic.
The unit was on measurement.This sixth grade, general science class, was beginning to learn about volume. The particular lesson of focus was on calculating the volume of irregular solids. The students had just learned that volume is how much space an object takes up. The GSE that it addresses is PS1 (5-8). RI GSE K-12 PS Students need to know the International System of Units and what tools scientists use when measuring. They need to be able to know the SI Units of measure for length, mass, volume, and density. Students may have trouble comparing masses of different objects of equal volumes if they are made of different substances. This topic is very important so students can recognize that different substances have properties, which allow them to be identified regardless of the size of the sample. It became evident that MOST students thought that to find the volume of something you should weigh it and then multiply its dimensions. Some even tried measuring volume using the formula for finding the circumference (Circumference = π × diameter).
3. (and 7) Describe an informal assessment that you selected, modified, or designed to address this concept. Summarize the instructions you gave your students and Include a link to the informal assessment here as well.
The informal assessment that I designed to address this concept was an inquiry activity on measurement. Please see link for full description. Informal Assessment informal assignment worksheet.pdf This was designed to see what the students were capable of and to inform me of their prior knowledge. I wanted to see if they could figure it out on their own. I did not expect that some students knew to use the water displacement method. I did not grade this assignment because it was inquiry.
4. (and 8) Create a formal assessment. Describe this assessment, including concepts, types of items, and how it was assessed. Include a link to a copy of the assessment here as well.
The formal assessment I used to evaluate this concept was test on Volume, specifically a short answer question. Some questions on the test included completion, calculating volume, conversion, and reading graduated cylinders. Some questions required the students to explain how they calculated answers and to show their work.
6. Develop the evaluation criteria (or key) for your informal assessment or link it here. This description should include the assessment's features, how it addresses different depths of knowledge, as well as an explanation of how it addresses a scientific practice related to inquiry.
My informal assessment was an inquiry activity that was not graded. Students were required to calculate the volume of a gumball using one or more of the materials that were provided. Students had to draw and label their diagram, showing how they measured the volume of the marble. Lastly, students had to explain how they calculated the volume. Different depths of knowledge (DOK) were addressed in this activity. DOK, level one, was addressed by having the students label their drawing of how they found the volume of the gumball and identify what objects they used to measure it. The students had to represent in words and a diagram this scientific concept. DOK, level two, was addressed by having students relate the volume of measuring irregular objects to what they have already learned in the previous lesson about calculating volume. Students had to decide how they were going to approach this problem. DOK, level three, was covered by having the students provide an explanation of how they solved the problem and having them explain their interpretation. Level four would be addressed in the formal assessment, where students are required to apply concepts that they have learned. Related to inquiry,this informal assessment addressed critical thinking. Students used their own evidence to formulate their explanations, and whether right or wrong, connected it to their knowledge (what they believed) about the topic. This practice has students relate what their doing to the job of a real scientist.
7. & 8. - Already addressed above.
9. For your informal assesssment, upload scans of the work of three or four students. The work of each student should be on a different page. At the bottom of each students' page, you should describe the level of student understanding, e.g. high, average, or low, and describe how this is indicated in their answers. An example of how to do this is here. Note: Remember to name the pages you create carefully, e.g. "Smith S10 - High Performing" instead of "High-Performing."
10 For you formal assessment, describe how you think it addressed the concepts you were trying to assess? How did you modify the assessment to address learning differences or special needs?
For my formal assessment I think I assessed my sixth graders understanding of volume. They had to know definitions of volume, graduated cylinder, meniscus, and how to read a graduate. They had to decipher between milliliters and liters. Students had to know the name of the method used to find the volume of irregular objects and how it works. Students had to apply mathematics when calculating the volume. Students had to convert units of measurement and explain their reasoning. I modified this assessment by adding in the illustrations and diagrams to help my visual learners achievement. I gave my two students with Asperger's more time. For my student with written language disadvantage I gave her a copy of the test with key words in bold. I asked if she wanted sentence starters but did not think she needed them.
III. Analysis / Reflection
11. Use both the informal and formal assessments to describe what you learned about what your students understand about these concepts. Use specific examples from both the informal and formal assessment to illustrate your points. What can your students do now that they could not before, and what do they still need to learn?
From my assessments I learned that some students understood the concept and others had no clue. From the informal assessment, as I noted, most of the class calculated the circumference of the gumball rather than the volume. This made me realize that although most knew their formulas they had trouble organizing them and that is how they got confused. After I saw how many combined circumference and volume of a regular object to find the volume of the gumball, I knew they needed more guidance. After the lesson was taught I gave another assignment that involved calculating the volume of irregular objects. All of the students had comparable answers and I was confident.
Most of the students got the concept on the short answer part of the test, they just did not name the method. These are two examples of the responses on the test. I am very content with my students being able to used the water displacement method to calculate the volume of irregular solids.
13. For your formal assessment only, select one student characteristic, e.g. ability, gender, age, etc) and compare the relative performance of each group. Hint: Use box and whiskers plots to compare the two groups. What do you conclude from this comparison? Why?
I have selected gender. 26 students (17 F and 9 M)
Male Female
Max 88 Max 99
Upper median 85.4 Upper median 90.8 Median 82.8 Median 82.6 Lower median 79.4 Lower median 71.3
Minimum 76 Minimum 60
I have concluded that both male and females have the same understanding of this topic by looking at the averages.The females had the highest and the lowest grades. This directly correlates to having twice as many females in the class. The average performance being so close in numbers may be due to the fact of having sufficient time to complete the lesson. In any class you will always have high and low performers. The girls are pulling this one for the team!
14. Describe any ways in which you invovled students in self-assessment. How did you communicate what you learned from your informal and formal assessments to your students? What did they do with this information?
Self-assessment did not apply to the inquiry assignment and/or test. I learned that most of my students grasped the concept from the formal assessment. As far as the inquiry activity, eighty percent used the "circumference/ volume of a solid method". Some students were more familiar with the water displacement method. After reviewing the inquiry based activity I think I made the right choice to give the students direct instruction and having them actually "do it". I believe that the follow up activity I designed using different objects helped students to understand the concept.
15: Most Important: Compare your objectives for student learning (both in terms of science concepts and practices) to the student learning you observed. What did you learn about your teaching based on the student performances? What will you do differently next time? Why would you make these changes? What, if anything, will you do to improve the assessment instruments?
This lesson was designed to teach about measurement. The hardest part of this lesson was to make sure students were understanding why they were using different tools for the same purpose. From student learning I have observed that some students do not always make "the connection". I have observed that students get easily confused and need to stay organized. I have learned that different learner styles require different tasks to measure their achievement. I have learned that while some students need direct instruction, at first, it is sometimes necessary for them to discover on their own. Next time, I will stick with the same idea of using multiple assessments to understand what my students have learned and need to learn. I enjoyed having the students explain their scientific thoughts and process with writing, illustrations, and labeling. By starting this unit where I did, I was able to have a clear documentation of the students progress, learning, and understanding. I would not change the assessments as of yet, but I will modify them as needed when I teach this topic again.
Formal and Informal Assessment of Student Learning
Name:
Talia Rainone
I. Assignment Description/Requirements
II. Preparation / Development
1. Reflect on your current assessment practices. How have you been determining what students understand and what they are able to do?
What "drives" my teaching is the students' response to questions. Upon revisiting any content a brief review is needed.
I have been determining what students understand from probing with many questions. For me, assessment drives my teaching. I think that through some activities, worksheets, reading, discussion, and investigations, I can really get a feel for what they have gained from the lesson and what still needs work. I have used many different worksheets that visit the content in various ways, some deal with vocabulary, diagram and label, explain, completion, and matching. The modified true and false questions have helped me to understand how some students are thinking. In this assessment, the questions' key concept is underlined, so when students read the question not only do they have to write true or false, but if it is a false statement they have to change the underlined word and make it a true statement. If I show videos I always have a worksheet that goes with it to make sure the students are grasping the main concepts. Any activities or investigations have students predict, observe, draw, conclude, cite evidence, and label different parts. This encourages higher level thinking and meet DOK levels 1-3. During formal assessments I have required students to apply concepts that were learned and relate it to a "bigger" situation (DOK 4).
2. Describe the concept(s) that you are trying to assess in these assignments. Include a link to the appropriate GSE(s) on RIScienceTeachers. Be sure to include in your description your definition, examples of what it is, why students have difficulty with this concept, and why it is important that you teach this topic.
The unit was on measurement.This sixth grade, general science class, was beginning to learn about volume. The particular lesson of focus was on calculating the volume of irregular solids. The students had just learned that volume is how much space an object takes up. The GSE that it addresses is PS1 (5-8).
RI GSE K-12 PS
Students need to know the International System of Units and what tools scientists use when measuring. They need to be able to know the SI Units of measure for length, mass, volume, and density. Students may have trouble comparing masses of different objects of equal volumes if they are made of different substances. This topic is very important so students can recognize that different substances have properties, which allow them to be identified regardless of the size of the sample.
It became evident that MOST students thought that to find the volume of something you should weigh it and then multiply its dimensions. Some even tried measuring volume using the formula for finding the circumference (Circumference = π × diameter).
3. (and 7) Describe an informal assessment that you selected, modified, or designed to address this concept. Summarize the instructions you gave your students and Include a link to the informal assessment here as well.
The informal assessment that I designed to address this concept was an inquiry activity on measurement. Please see link for full description.
Informal Assessment
informal assignment worksheet.pdf
This was designed to see what the students were capable of and to inform me of their prior knowledge. I wanted to see if they could figure it out on their own. I did not expect that some students knew to use the water displacement method.
I did not grade this assignment because it was inquiry.
4. (and 8) Create a formal assessment. Describe this assessment, including concepts, types of items, and how it was assessed. Include a link to a copy of the assessment here as well.
The formal assessment I used to evaluate this concept was test on Volume, specifically a short answer question. Some questions on the test included completion, calculating volume, conversion, and reading graduated cylinders. Some questions required the students to explain how they calculated answers and to show their work.
5. Develop the evaluation criteria (or key) for your formal assessment or link it here.
6. Develop the evaluation criteria (or key) for your informal assessment or link it here. This description should include the assessment's features, how it addresses different depths of knowledge, as well as an explanation of how it addresses a scientific practice related to inquiry.
My informal assessment was an inquiry activity that was not graded.
Students were required to calculate the volume of a gumball using one or more of the materials that were provided. Students had to draw and label their diagram, showing how they measured the volume of the marble. Lastly, students had to explain how they calculated the volume.
Different depths of knowledge (DOK) were addressed in this activity. DOK, level one, was addressed by having the students label their drawing of how they found the volume of the gumball and identify what objects they used to measure it. The students had to represent in words and a diagram this scientific concept. DOK, level two, was addressed by having students relate the volume of measuring irregular objects to what they have already learned in the previous lesson about calculating volume. Students had to decide how they were going to approach this problem. DOK, level three, was covered by having the students provide an explanation of how they solved the problem and having them explain their interpretation. Level four would be addressed in the formal assessment, where students are required to apply concepts that they have learned.
Related to inquiry,this informal assessment addressed critical thinking. Students used their own evidence to formulate their explanations, and whether right or wrong, connected it to their knowledge (what they believed) about the topic. This practice has students relate what their doing to the job of a real scientist.
7. & 8. - Already addressed above.
9. For your informal assesssment, upload scans of the work of three or four students. The work of each student should be on a different page. At the bottom of each students' page, you should describe the level of student understanding, e.g. high, average, or low, and describe how this is indicated in their answers. An example of how to do this is here. Note: Remember to name the pages you create carefully, e.g. "Smith S10 - High Performing" instead of "High-Performing."
10 For you formal assessment, describe how you think it addressed the concepts you were trying to assess? How did you modify the assessment to address learning differences or special needs?
For my formal assessment I think I assessed my sixth graders understanding of volume.
They had to know definitions of volume, graduated cylinder, meniscus, and how to read a graduate. They had to decipher between milliliters and liters. Students had to know the name of the method used to find the volume of irregular objects and how it works. Students had to apply mathematics when calculating the volume. Students had to convert units of measurement and explain their reasoning. I modified this assessment by adding in the illustrations and diagrams to help my visual learners achievement. I gave my two students with Asperger's more time. For my student with written language disadvantage I gave her a copy of the test with key words in bold. I asked if she wanted sentence starters but did not think she needed them.
III. Analysis / Reflection
11. Use both the informal and formal assessments to describe what you learned about what your students understand about these concepts. Use specific examples from both the informal and formal assessment to illustrate your points. What can your students do now that they could not before, and what do they still need to learn?
From my assessments I learned that some students understood the concept and others had no clue.
From the informal assessment, as I noted, most of the class calculated the circumference of the gumball rather than the volume. This made me realize that although most knew their formulas they had trouble organizing them and that is how they got confused.
After I saw how many combined circumference and volume of a regular object to find the volume of the gumball, I knew they needed more guidance. After the lesson was taught I gave another assignment that involved calculating the volume of irregular objects. All of the students had comparable answers and I was confident.
Most of the students got the concept on the short answer part of the test, they just did not name the method.
These are two examples of the responses on the test. I am very content with my students being able to used the water displacement method to calculate the volume of irregular solids.
12. OMIT
13. For your formal assessment only, select one student characteristic, e.g. ability, gender, age, etc) and compare the relative performance of each group. Hint: Use box and whiskers plots to compare the two groups. What do you conclude from this comparison? Why?
I have selected gender.
26 students (17 F and 9 M)
Male Female
Max 88 Max 99
Upper median 85.4 Upper median 90.8
Median 82.8 Median 82.6
Lower median 79.4 Lower median 71.3
Minimum 76 Minimum 60
I have concluded that both male and females have the same understanding of this topic by looking at the averages.The females had the highest and the lowest grades. This directly correlates to having twice as many females in the class. The average performance being so close in numbers may be due to the fact of having sufficient time to complete the lesson. In any class you will always have high and low performers. The girls are pulling this one for the team!
14. Describe any ways in which you invovled students in self-assessment. How did you communicate what you learned from your informal and formal assessments to your students? What did they do with this information?
Self-assessment did not apply to the inquiry assignment and/or test. I learned that most of my students grasped the concept from the formal assessment. As far as the inquiry activity, eighty percent used the "circumference/ volume of a solid method". Some students were more familiar with the water displacement method. After reviewing the inquiry based activity I think I made the right choice to give the students direct instruction and having them actually "do it". I believe that the follow up activity I designed using different objects helped students to understand the concept.
15: Most Important: Compare your objectives for student learning (both in terms of science concepts and practices) to the student learning you observed. What did you learn about your teaching based on the student performances? What will you do differently next time? Why would you make these changes? What, if anything, will you do to improve the assessment instruments?
This lesson was designed to teach about measurement. The hardest part of this lesson was to make sure students were understanding why they were using different tools for the same purpose. From student learning I have observed that some students do not always make "the connection". I have observed that students get easily confused and need to stay organized. I have learned that different learner styles require different tasks to measure their achievement.
I have learned that while some students need direct instruction, at first, it is sometimes necessary for them to discover on their own.
Next time, I will stick with the same idea of using multiple assessments to understand what my students have learned and need to learn. I enjoyed having the students explain their scientific thoughts and process with writing, illustrations, and labeling. By starting this unit where I did, I was able to have a clear documentation of the students progress, learning, and understanding. I would not change the assessments as of yet, but I will modify them as needed when I teach this topic again.